3 Ways To “Get Rid” of Your Stuff Before Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year falls on 16 February 2018, and as we welcome the Year of the Dog, it’s once again time to spring clean. If you’re a bit of a hoarder like us who can’t bear to just ‘throw something away’, read on to find out how you can clean up your room without just chucking them into the bin. In the spirit of sustainable living, here are 3 ways to ‘get rid’ of your stuff before the lunar new year – you may even earn some cash by following our guide!

Sell them!

If you have items that are new and have the time and effort to spare, sell your items! There are different ways according to the level of difficulty as well. Here’s what you can do:

1. Set up a Carousell account

Of course, this is straightforward, and you can sell almost ANYTHING on this platform. Take a few pictures, write a short description of your product with relevant keywords and then set a price! One tip is to check out the competition and then set your price a few bucks lower than the others. Visit other guides to check out how you can be a successful Carouseller!

Pros: You can sell anything you like, set any price and edit your terms accordingly (meet up / delivery)

Cons: It takes quite a bit of time, effort and luck for people to buy your item!

2. Get a flea booth

Many of us are shopping addicts and have mountains of clothes to clear every year before Chinese New Year. Do you know that you can sell your items in bulk through flea booths? Instead of getting one yourself, share it with 2 or 3 other friends to spread the costs out. One clever way is to get a booth on Saturdays instead of Sundays because it usually has cheaper rental. The booth should also be in an area with lots of traffic – we have made a few flea booth sales, and the one that did the best is at Lucky Plaza!

Pros: You can set any price, and sell in bulk!

Cons: Lots of effort, prices are really low like $1 / item sometimes, usually for apparel and it’s quite tiring!

However, you can look at it as a form of bonding with your friends if you’re sharing a booth and helping to ‘bargain’ with potential customers!

3. Refash

We just discovered Refash which allows you to list your clothes on their platform or sell them physically in-store. Choose the better ones with notable brands (at least Cotton On or blog shop kinds), deliver to their store or pay an amount for collection. After a few weeks, Refash will send you a list after curation depicting how much they will pay for each item. If you think that the amount quoted is too low, you can also choose to reject it and collect your items afterwards!

Pros: Easy, sell in bulk

Cons: Relatively lowly priced per piece depending on brand, we got 50 cents for a dress which was not ‘branded’.

Donate them!

If you can’t be bothered to sell the old items, instead of throwing them away, one other great way is to donate your clothes to charity.

1. Salvation Army

The Salvation Army’s social enterprise arm, Red Shield Industries, processes donated items and retail those that are in good condition at their Family Thrift Stores across Singapore. Clothing, furniture, household goods, electronic devices, toys and books are all welcome. This is great for those of you who want to donate items individually, and at accessible locations.

2. MINDS Thrift Shops

Another alternative is the MINDS thrift shops which collect items that are in good usable condition. This is great for those of you who want to donate individually or to give items as a group.

MINDS welcome companies who want to organise a company-wide collection of stuff. Perhaps you can use this chance to gather a few other colleagues and do good to get some karma brownie points for the New Year! Transport will also be provided to pick up those items based on advanced planning. If you’re too lazy to do so, send this information to your HR department so that they can organise this!

Recycle them!

Last but not least, give the items that you have another lease of life! Depending on the time you have, you can consider the following:

1. Upcycle the items

Upcycling is also known as creative reuse, and there are many online guides to show you how you can reuse items. It’s not only about kid’s craft cutting water bottles as fancy vases or planters! There are guides which teach you how to make useful items such as bags using just a regular t-shirt! You may even start your own upcycling business if you have the artistic talent. We have seen old banners made into bags or pencil cases sold at a relatively good profit!

Just do a quick search on the Internet or even YouTube for step-by-step guides.

2. EcoBank 2018

Give your items a new lease of life through donating to EcoBank 2018! This initiative was started at the end of 2015 by City Developments Limited and Eco-Business with volunteers from schools and other organisations coming together to curate donated items that will be sold at a 2 or 3-day bazaar!

In 2017, EcoBank raised $35,000 for The Children’s Charities Association of Singapore by selling items donated by the public. This initiative that combines both recycling/ upcycling and charity is coming back in January 2018 right before Chinese New Year.

The items will then be sold on 3 and 4 March 2018 at City Square Mall.